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Spain are world champions for the second time. Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in extra time as Spain beat Argentina in the 2026 World Cup final at New York New Jersey Stadium on Sunday — but the football was almost an afterthought in one of the most chaotic finals in the tournament's history.
The spectacle around the game dwarfed what happened on the pitch. US president Donald Trump attended in person — his first match of the entire tournament — arriving via one of three helicopters that circled the stadium before landing. He took his seat alongside FIFA president Gianni Infantino roughly 20 minutes before kick-off, in time to watch Robbie Williams and Nicole Scherzinger close out the ceremony. He was later seen in the first half being shown the trophy.
The half-time show ran for 27 minutes — the longest in World Cup history — featuring Madonna, BTS, Coldplay, Shakira and Justin Bieber, who performed an acoustic version of Everything Hallelujah after a fictional pep talk from the Ted Lasso cast. Reaction was mixed. Wayne Rooney, speaking in the Match of the Day studio, was blunt: he called the performances bad, the timings bad, and said organisers should have just let the football be played.
Trump lingered on stage during the trophy presentation, as he had done at last year's Club World Cup final when he remained alongside Chelsea captain Reece James after handing over the trophy. At Sunday's final there were audible boos when Trump and Infantino appeared for the ceremony, and Argentina defender Cristian Romero walked straight past Trump without shaking his hand after collecting his medal from Infantino.